Historical Context of the Spanish Civil War
by The Spanish Civil War was one of the major conflicts in Spain.
It started after a part of army tried to attack against the government of the Spanish Republic. It devastated Spain from July 17, 1936 to April 1, 1939. The war ended with the victory of rebels and a dictatorship was founded and was led by the Fascist General Francisco Franco.
Several reasons were attributed to be the factors of the war. Many of these reasons are long-term problems that had increased over the years.
In an attempt to displace each other, the reformists and the conservatives carried out many revolts and civil wars in Spain. The liberal tradition which came into power in 1812 put an end to the monarchy which was the earlier rule. It also succeeded in establishing a liberal state.
Many traditional sectors of political background tried to prevent these transformations in the country and tried hard to sustain the monarchy. The supporters of Infante Carlos, called the Carlists rallied and fought for Spanish traditions. The Carlists united with nationalists to keep the historic liberties restored.
From the middle years of the 19th century, the liberals were bypassed by relatively stronger socialists (especially anarchists). Between the Napoleonic wars and the outbreak of the Civil War, many systems of rules were established in Spain. During the most years of the 19th century, Spain was a monarchy but many attacks occurred from different sides.
In 1873, the first Spanish Republic was founded but it lasted for only a little while. Under Alfonso XIII, a monarchy was established which lasted for many years. This monarchy lasted from the year 1887 to the year 1931 but the important point to be remembered is that from 1923, the monarchy was held by military dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera.
After defeating Miguel Primo de Rivera in the year 1930, the monarchy failed to maintain the power and this lead to the declaration of the Second Republic in 1931. The left and the center’s alliance soon started leading this Second Republic. During this period, many controversial reforms were passed some of which are the Agrarian Law of 1932 and the distribution of land among poor peasants.
Most of the people of Spain led absolute poverty under the control of the landowners in quasi-feudal system. These political and social reforms along with anticlericalist acts are said to be the major reasons for the war as they created much opposition.
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